Knob-operated damper control



1956 J. M. TURCHICK 2,764,930

KNOB-OPERATED DAMPER CONTROL Filed Aug. 5, 1955 FIG. 2'

J05[ PH M. TURCH/CK INVENTOR.

' H/5 ATTORNEY KNOB-OPERATED DAMPER CONTROL Joseph M. Turchick, Wellsboro, Pa., assignor to American Radiator & Standard Sanitary Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application August 5, 1953, Serial No. 372,552

4 Claims. (Cl. 98-106) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in damper control devices to be used to regulate the position of a damper in relation to an air outlet grille.

One object of this invention is to provide a damper control that is rotatably operated to adjust a damper to any desired position and operable to retain said damper in the desired position until again rotatably adjusted.

Another object is to provide a stop mechanism which will prevent the opening of the damper beyond a predetermined limit, thus protecting both the rear wall of the enclosure and the damper from distortion due to excessive movement of the damper.

Another object is to provide a damper control mechanism that is rugged in construction, easy to assemble and install, and economical to manufacture.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description, the drawings to which it relates, and the claims hereinafter set forth.

This invention comprises the new and improved construction and combination of parts and their operating relation to each other, which will be more fully described iinited States Patent hereinafter, and the novelty of which will be particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed.

In t e accompanying drawings to be taken as part of the specification, there is fully and clearly illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which drawrugs,

Figure 1 is a sectional view in elevation of a convector with the damper control mechanism operatively secured therein;

Figure 2 is a sectional view, slightly enlarged, taken along the line 22 in Figure 1 showing the damper con trol mechanism in detail.

Referring to the drawing by numerals of reference, there is shown a convector enclosure or casing 1. The enclosure 1 has a rear panel or wall 2 and a front panel or wall 3. The front panel 3 has a portion containing a plurality of slots or apertures forming a grilled air outlet 4. A top cover member 5 is positioned between the front panel 3 and the rear panel 2, thus forming an enclosure with an air outlet 4. A damper 6 is provided to regulate airflow through the outlet 4 and has a bent portion forming a hook 8 at one end and an inturned flange 9 at the other end. A rod 7 is secured within the casing 1 in spaced relationship to the front panel 3. The damper 6 is hinged on a rod 7 by means of the hook 8 and is rotatable thereon. The flanged portion 9 of damper 6 insures complete closure of the damper 6 when said damper is in a closed position. Secured to the inner wall surface 11 of damper 6 is a U-shaped connecting member 10. An angular supporting member 12 is secured to the inner wall of the top panel 5 by its flanged end wall 13 and has a downwardly extending wall 12 The supporting member wall 13 has a shaft supporting aperture 14 therethrough. The method of securing both the supporting member 12 and the connecting member 10 may be spot welding or any other suitable means. A substantially U-shaped shaft supporting bracket 16 has side walls 17 and 18 and a rear wall 19. The side walls 17 and 18 have outwardly extending flanges 20 and 21 secured to the rear wall surface of the supporting member wall 12 by means of the welds 22 and 23. The bracket rear wall 19 has an aperture 24 that serves as a bearing for shaft 28 and has a portion 25 cut away to permit passage of the actuating member 38. The side walls 17 and 18 have aligned apertures 26 for the passage of the pivot pin 27 therethrough. A shaft 28 is provided which has a threaded portion 29 and end portions of reduced diameter as indicated at 30 and 32. The end portion 30 is inserted in the aperture 24 and the end portion 32 passes through the aperture 14 in the supporting member 12 and extends beyond said member to receive a knob 33. In this arrangement the shaft 28 is rotatably mounted between the end wall 19 of the bracket 16 and the supporting member wall 12 but is axially immovable therein. The shaft 28 has a hexagonal socket 31 in its end portion 32 for rotation by an Allen wrench when the knob is removed. A knob 33 is positioned over end portion 32 and tightened thereon for rotating the shaft 28. A block or nut 34 having internal threads is threaded on the shaft 28 and has pins 35 and 36 extending from opposite sides thereof. The block 34 is moved longitudinally of the shaft 28 upon rotation thereof. The damper control has an actuating member 38 for moving the damper 6 which is channel shaped and has a front wall or flat portion 39 and side walls 41) and 41. The front wall 39 has a cut out portion as indicated at 42 to permit the passage of shaft 28 between the sidewalls 40 and 41. The side walls 40 and 41 have aligned pivot pin apertures 43 receiving the pivot pin 27 and aligned cam slots or apertures 44 receiving the block pins 35 and 36. The side walls 40 and 41 have portions cut away as indicated at 45 to form an extending actuating finger 46 for engaging and moving the damper bracket 10. The actuating member 38 is positioned so that the block pins 35 and 36 extend through the slots 44 and the pivot pin 27 passes through apertures 26 in the supporting bracket 16 and apertures 43 in the actuating member 38. The lower end or finger 46 of the actuating member 38 passes through the damper connecting member 10. The actuating member side walls 40 and 41 are spaced to prevent rotative movement of block 34 but permit axial movement thereof. A sleeve 37 is positioned on shaft 28 adjacent the wall 12 to limit the axial movement of block 34 toward the knob 33.

Operation The form of invention disclosed operates generally as follows:

The actuating member 38 is pivotally connected to the support bracket 16 by means of the pivot pin 27. The actuating member 38 is operatively connected to the block member 34 by means of the pins 35 and 36 passing through the slot portions 44. Upon axial movement of the block member 34 the actuating member 38 will rotate about the pivot pin 27. The rotative movement of the actuating member 38 will be transmitted through the finger 46 to the damper bracket 10 to adjust the damper 6.

When the knob 33 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the block member 34 will move toward the front of the enclosure. As the block 34 moves, the block pins 35 and 36 will slide in slots 44 of the actuating member 38 and having a camming action thereon to pivot the same about the pivot pin 27. The damper bracket 10 will slide along the finger 46 of the actuating member 38 as the actuating member 38 is rotated about the pivot pin 27. Thus rotativemovemen. is imparted to damper 6 by means 6 tion. Thus for subsequent adjustment of damper 6, rotative adjustment of knob 33 is required. The movement of block member 34 toward the open position of damper 6 is limited due to the sleeve member 37 being positioned over shaft 28. The size of the sleeve is such that the block member 34 will be restrained from further forward movement when the damper 6 is in a full open position as shown in Figure 1.

It should be noted that actuating member 38 is channel shaped for strength and also that the actuating pins 35 and 36 extend into the slots in the side walls of the channel shaped actuator. This type of connection has the advantage of being stronger and axial movement of the pins 35 and 35 will be quickly and positively transferred into rotatable movement in the actuating member 38. Also the actuating member 33 is pivoted. about a pivot pin that passes through apertures in the side walls of the channel shaped actuating member and the side walls of the support bracket. With this type of pivot connection, strong pOSlilWi connection is assured that will not bind or twist out of shape after extensive use. It should also be noted that the arrangement of the actuating member. side walls at) and 41 which fit closely adjacent the block member 34 and the slots 44 which receive the pins 35 and 36 prevents rotation of the block member 34 when the knob 33 is turned.

The general box like features of the support bracket and the channel shape of the actuating member give the damper mechanism the strength required for installation in enclosures subject to frequent damper adjustment without loss of the advantages of relatively simple manufacture, installation and assembly.

While there has been only one embodiment of this invention illustrated and described, it will be obvious to the artisan that other embodiments are possible without departing from the scope and intent of the invention which is to be limited only by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a control mechanism for a damper pivotally and adjustably supported in, a casing having an air outlet aperture, to control the flow of air through the air outlet aperture, a supporting member to be secured to the casing and having a shaft supporting aperture therethrough, a substantially U-shaped shaft supporting bracket having two side walls and a rear wall, said side Walls being secured at one end to said supporting member and having aligned pivot pin apertures therethrough, said rear wall being secured to the other end of said side Walls and having a shaft supporting aperture aligned with said supporting member aperture, a threaded shaft passing through said shaft supporting apertures and being rotatable but axially immovable therein, an operating knob secured to one end of said shaft for rotating the same, a threaded block member positioned on said shaft and having pins extending from opposite sides thereof, an actuating member having a channel portion and a flat portion, said channel portion having side walls with aligned pivot pin apertures and aligned cam slots therethrough, a pivot pin passing through said pivot pin apertures, said block member being positioned between said channel portion side walls with said block pins passing through said cam slots to permit axial but restrain rotatable movement of said block so that movement of said block member axially along said shaft will pivot said actuating member about said pivot pin. 1

2. In a control mechanism for a damper pivotally and adjustably supported in, a casing having an air outlet aperture to control the flow of air through said outlet aperture, a supporting member to be secured within the casing and having a shaft supporting aperture therethrough, a substantially U-shaped shaft supporting bracket having two side walls and a rear wall, said side walls being secured at one end to said supporting member and having aligned pivot pin apertures therethrough, said rear wall having a shaft supporting aperture aligned with said supporting member aperture, a threaded shaft positioned in said shaft supporting apertures and being rotatable but axially immovable therein, an operating knob adapted to be positioned outside the casing and having a portion extending through said knob receiving aperture and secured to said shaft, a threaded block member positioned on said shaft and having pins extending from opposite sides thereof, an actuating member having a channel portion and a fiat portion, said channel portion having side walls with aligned pivot pin apertures and aligned cam slots therethrough, a pivot pin passing through said pivot pin apertures, said block member being positioned between said channel portion side walls with said block pins passing through said cam slots to permit axial but restrain rotatable movement of said block so that movement of said block member axially along said shaft will pivot said actuating member about said pivot pin to position the damper.

3. A damper control mechanism as defined in claim 2 in which there is provided a sleeve member positioned on said shaft between said first named supporting member and said block member to limit movement of said block member in one direction.

4. In a control mechanism for a damper pivotally and adjustably supported in, a casing having an air outlet aperture, to control the flow of air through the air outlet aperture, an angular supporting member having a shaft supporting aperture in one wall, a U-shaped shaft supporting bracket having two side walls and a rear wall, said side walls being secured at one end to said one wall of said supporting member and having aligned pivot pin apertures therethrough, said rear wall having a shaft supporting aperture aligned with said supporting member aperture, a rotatable shaft positioned in said shaft sup porting apertures and having end shoulders preventing axial movement, said shaft having a threaded body portion and end portions of reduced diameter, one end portion having a socket therein and extending through said supporting member aperture and said other end portion being supported in said last named shaft supporting aperture, a threaded block member positioned on said threaded shaft portion and having pins extending from opposite sides thereof, an actuating member having a channel portion and a flat portion, said channel portion having side walls with aligned pivot pin apertures and aligned cam slots therethrough, a pivot pin passing through said pivot pin apertures, said block member being positioned between said channel portion side walls with said pins passing through said cam slots to permit axial but restrain rotatable movement of said block for pivoting said actuating member about said pivot pin, and a sleeve member positioned on said shaft between said first named supporting member and said block member to engage and limit the axial movement thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,198,144 ORourke Sept. 12, 1916 1,531,051 Tomlinson May 24, 1925 1,622,385 Klein May 29, 1927 2,017,407 Hart et a1 Oct. 15, 1935 2,179,707 Bernhardt Nov. 14, 1939 2,203,120 Young June 4, 1940 2,397,672 Leigh Apr. 2, 1946 2,585,122 Hartman Feb. 12, 1952 

